


Tufts of Fluff

by mylifeisloki



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: F/M, romanogers fluffathon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-11
Updated: 2016-11-20
Packaged: 2018-08-30 09:40:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 11,443
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8528197
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mylifeisloki/pseuds/mylifeisloki
Summary: Collection of ficlets based on prompts from tumblr. Started for the Romanogers Fluffathon so we can all have a little bit of happiness to focus on!





	1. Stranger Danger

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: In any public place: I could swear you keep looking at me, hang on are you drawing me?

It all started innocently enough. Steve had an assignment to draw a portrait of a stranger and decided against his better judgement to wander off his college’s campus to find someone out there in the real world instead. He found himself at a coffee shop in the city and made himself comfortable at one of the tables outside where he could watch people walking back and forth as well as whatever customers came to visit the same cafe. He’d doodled a few things; an older woman walking a dog, a young child carrying an ice cream cone, two men holding hands.

But the subject he really wanted still eluded him. What was frustrating him the most was that he didn’t exactly know what he wanted, but he did know he hadn’t found it yet. Now on his third cup of coffee from a waitress who was getting more annoyed at him by the second, he was beginning to really give up hope.

That is, he was beginning to until _she_ walked in. The woman who sat down a few tables away with a thick book and sunglasses covering her eyes had the most beautiful hair and the prettiest lips he’d ever seen. Steve stopped with his coffee halfway to his lips and stared over the rim of the cup in the hopes that she might take the sunglasses off now that she was under an umbrella.

‘Come on’, he willed with his mind. ‘Come on, take the sunglasses off.’

When they did come off, Steve knew he’d found The One™. She was beautiful. Every part of her was just fucking beautiful. Quickly flipping to a blank page, he set his coffee down and got to work sketching her while she read her book. He started with her hair; long, red curls that framed her face and fell messily over her shoulders. She kept pushing them back, but they would fall over again and again, much to Steve’s amusement. At some point, she even secured them back with a little black clip, but they managed to break free anyway.

Once he filled in the line of her jaw, he got to work outlining a petite frame and delicate hands holding her book open and her cup of tea. He also noticed with a bit of disappointment (entirely unreasonable disappointment, he might add) that she was wearing a necklace that looked like it might be from a boyfriend. After all, who would buy an arrow necklace just for herself, right? He outlined the cardigan she was wearing and the blouse beneath it, leaving a soft line for the necklace as well before he moved right on.

He lightly shaded the lines that highlighted the apples of her cheeks and moved on again to the soft, plump shape of her lips. God, she had amazing lips. Steve wondered what they tasted like and if they were as soft as they looked and whether or not she was a good kisser-- although, who was he kidding? She _had_ to be a good kisser. By the time he moved up to her perfect little nose and further up to a pair of stunning green eyes, he was drawing like no one was going to notice, sneaking little glances up at her with not a care in the world.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

For the last half an hour, Natasha had been trying with all her might to ignore the fact that some creep a couple of tables over kept looking at her. Now, he might have been a _cute_ creep, but that didn’t take away from the fact that he was a creep and staring at her when he thought she wasn’t looking. Calm as ever, Natasha continued reading her book thinking he’d either say something stupid or give up on all of this, but he didn’t. He didn’t say anything.

Thirty fucking minutes and he’d been looking at her every few seconds like he was trying to study her. Not to mention that his arm kept moving and without actually looking at him, she couldn’t tell what he was doing. Was he _masturbating_? Because that had happened to her before and it was horrifying. This time, she’d kick the guy right in the nuts and move on with her life.

If he didn’t stop. Ten more minutes and Natasha was getting up, slamming her book shut, and marching over to the guy so she could confront him. Someone had to, or this behavior would just continue. Hands on her hips, Natasha started talking the second she reached the table. “Do you want to tell me what the hell you’re staring at? Because I don’t like strangers looking at me like I’m some kind of piece of--”

Her eyes finally went from the guy’s very startled gaze to the book in front of him and she frowned. “Are you _drawing_ me?”

To his credit, he looked fucking terrified. “Ah. That… depends,” he said slowly. “Are you gonna yell at me more if I am drawing you?”

Natasha pressed her lips together. “You’re still a creep,” she insisted. The second the words left her mouth, the guy’s face kind of fell and he slowly closed the book so the drawing wasn’t on display anymore. And honestly, she almost felt bad for it. Finding it difficult to make peace with leaving him looking like a kicked puppy, she crossed her arms over her chest and huffed. “ _Why_ were you drawing me?”

The guy swallowed and anxiously traced along the sides of his notebook. “I’m an art major,” he tried. “And I’m in a class that focuses on portraits? My assignment was to draw a stranger so I just--”

“Decided to do it without actually asking,” she finished for him.

He looked humiliated. Good. “Yeah, I guess I should have asked,” he admitted. “I’m real sorry, I just… saw you and started drawing. It was like there wasn’t time to make a decision, I just knew you were the one I wanted.”

Natasha raised her eyebrows at him and he quickly tried to recover. “That is, the one I wanted.. To draw. Because you’re really beautiful and everything. I’m so sorry, please don’t call the cops, I swear I’m not as much of a creep as you think.”

No, he really wasn’t. He was her age and based on the messenger bag and the story he told her, she did actually believe that. Maybe he was just kind of socially inept. “What’s your name?”

“Steve,” he answered. “What’s yours?”

“Natasha.” She studied him for a moment before turning on her heel to retrieve her things. Purse in hand, book tucked under her arm, and cup of tea in her other hand, she moved herself right on over to Steve’s table and sat down across from him. “Where do you go to school?”

Steve swallowed and leaned back. “Brooklyn College. Nothing too exciting, unless, uh… unless of course you’re trying to figure out where I go so you can get me in trouble. In which case… please don’t.”

He was cute. Natasha smiled a little bit and tilted her head to the side. “Maybe I will, maybe I won’t. That really depends on a few things.”

“Oh, yeah? Like what?”

“Like whether or not you let me see that drawing,” she answered, taking another sip of her tea.

Steve blinked for a second before quickly opening up to the right page. “It’s not finished,” he said.

Natasha looked down at the drawing and once she saw how much time and effort he’d put into it, she smiled a little indulgently. “Then you’d better get going,” she mused, opening her book again. “I want that drawing finished before we go to dinner tonight.”


	2. Puppy Therapy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: Once a week, I go visit the pet store to stare at the cute kittens and puppies and you're the nice employee who always lets me hold them and wait I think I'm going to cry hold on.

It had been three whole months since Steve returned to New York from his most recent tour in Iraq. Admittedly, he hadn’t completely recovered this time, not as well as he did after the first two. An honorable discharge was one thing, but actually getting himself back into the sway of real life was another thing altogether. And it was difficult! He couldn’t stop the nightmares, he couldn’t quit ducking at loud noises… There were a lot of things he needed to adjust to all over again and even more so because he lived right in the middle of New York City, not some small town with an abundance of quiet.

His life post-deployment consisted of therapy sessions three times a week, a fuck ton of late night runs that only managed to put him to sleep half the time, if that, and sweatpants. God, he barely left the house anymore unless he absolutely had to; i.e., for his runs and his therapy sessions. Depression was beginning to set in as well and despite his attempts to remain positive, it really got him down sometimes. It wasn’t even the things he’d seen, but the loss of his best friend that truly sent him falling into the kind of habits that were practically textbook signs for depression and PTSD.

On the advice of his therapist, Steve decided to just take a walk one day. It wasn’t a run like he was used to, but a leisurely walk around the neighborhood with his hands in his pockets and a baseball cap to shade his eyes. He cringed every time a car honked its horn and he kind of shied away from large groups of people, ultimately ducking down a side street for a little alone time. Aside from the guy he bought a hot dog from, he spoke to absolutely no one. Not a soul.

He was just starting to believe that he’d never find anything to cheer him up when he came upon a pet store and stopped right at the window to watch the puppies play. Steve didn’t know if he could take care of a dog right now and he understood that it was much better to adopt one from a shelter… He didn’t think he could handle that responsibility right now.

But he went in anyway and quickly slipped past the teenage girl behind the counter in favor of seeking out the puppies again. Steve thought they were adorable. So… pure. Puppies didn’t have problems like his, okay? They were just doing their thing, exploring their world, having fun…

“Hi, can I help you?”

Shit. Steve jumped about ten feet and turned to find a petite woman looking up at him. She had on a blue shirt with the store’s name on the pin she wore, right above her name- Natasha. “Ah, no. I mean, I’m just looking. But thank you.”

“Okay. Sorry I scared you. Let me know if you need anything, alright?”

He nodded and watched her go before turning back to the puppies. A few of them yipped at him and tried to stand up against the plastic keeping them in their pen, so Steve crouched down and put his hands up to encourage them. Sweet. They were really very sweet. Before long, however, Steve felt really awkward about staying and left without a word so he could retreat back home.

Two days later, he passed by the same store on his way back from therapy. After such a long, intense session, there was almost no hesitation before he stepped in and again headed right to the puppies for a little therapy of his own making. For two weeks, he found himself heading right into the same pet store something like three or four times a week just to talk softly to the puppies in the case. Some of them would disappear, obviously having gone to people who actually could deal with that much responsibility, but Steve had little preference. They were all very sweet.

One day, however, as Steve settled himself down on his knees to say hello to the puppies again, he was taken by surprise by a somewhat familiar voice. “Excuse me?”

He didn’t jump… as much. But he did kind of tense up before looking to the side and finding the same petite redhead beside him. Natasha, as he was reminded by her nametag. “Yeah?”

“‘Scuze me if this is too forward, but I was wondering if you wanted to hold one of them.”

Steve blinked. “Hold... one of the puppies?” Stupid question.  _ Obviously _ she meant one of the puppies. “I mean, I’d love to, but… I’m not going to buy one. I just don’t want to lead you on there or anything.”

Natasha smiled like she could read right through him. “I know you’re not going to buy one,” she said patiently. “You’ve been coming in for two weeks now.”

Right. “I’m…” Shit, shit, shit. “I’m sorry. I’ve probably been in the way, huh?”

“Oh, no. No, not at all,” she said quickly. “Distracting, maybe. But that’s all.”

Distracting? Steve opened his mouth to ask her what she meant by that, but Natasha cut him off and kept going. “I just thought you might want to hold one of them. Pick one.”

Steve closed his mouth and looked into the pen for a few moments before pointing to a little beagle puppy he’d seen a few times now. “That one. The beagle.”

Natasha smiled and reached way over, scooping the little puppy up and depositing her into Steve’s waiting arms. Immediately, she clumsily pushed herself up against his chest and started giving him little kisses on his jaw and neck, licking right over his lips as well, and up to his nose… Steve laughed and it was quite possibly the first time he’d done so since he came home.

“Yeah, you’re a good girl,” he told her, scratching behind the puppy’s ears and riling her up a little more. When Natasha wordlessly handed him a little chew toy, Steve sat himself down on the floor and played with her for a little while without worrying about anything else. 

He wasn’t even sure how long he stayed there, but eventually the puppy got tired and curled up to go to sleep, which was when he carefully put her back in the pen. Steve moved to the front of the store, said a quiet ‘thank you’ to Natasha, and left as fast as he could. When he came back a few days later, he was surprised to find that Natasha came right over to him and presented him with a few chew toys and a blanket on the floor hear the puppy pen. Sure enough, she scooped out not only the beagle puppy he’d played with before, but also a golden retriever puppy and a little black lab. With three puppies eager to play and bark and run and kiss, Steve was pretty much in heaven. It felt like everything else just went right out of his mind.

Over the next month, he showed up all the time and each time, Natasha joined him with at least two puppies, if not more. Sometimes she’d sit with him so they didn’t run rampant around the store, and sometimes she could leave him be for a while. Sometimes they’d talk about little things, like the fact that she’d only had cats as actual pets, but she really loved the puppies she worked with. Steve would tell her that he used to feed the dogs that wandered his neighborhood as a kid, but he’d never had a pet because he had been allergic as a kid.

Natasha was kind of an angel that way. She was sweet and beautiful, and she never asked him why he came back all the time or why he was so dependent on this interaction with the puppies he had no intention of buying. That is, until one day.

Steve had gone to therapy and they’d finally opened up the can of worms that was the death of his best friend. Survivor’s guilt was a hard thing to talk about and by the time he left, Steve was very nearly in tears. But he hadn’t cried since the actual death and he refused to do so now. If he started, he might not ever stop. In a daze, he went to the pet store as usual and after Natasha took one look at him, she took his hand and led him into the back where there was a bigger pen for the puppies to play in. She told him to sit right there and she’d be back in a second.

When she returned, it was with two puppies in her hands. She set them down, then left again and slowly but surely deposited each and every puppy in the pen into that room with Steve. Full of life and curiosity and love, they ran about him and tried to play as much as they could. Two even curled up on Steve’s lap to sleep, and one arranged himself right beside Steve’s leg. They tugged at his jeans and chased each other over his legs and Steve was just…

Weak. He was weak. At some point, one of the little husky puppies came up and cried at him before tugging at the hem of his shirt. Steve scooped him up and before he could stop himself, he kind of let the tears come. With that puppy resting on his shoulder like she knew something was wrong, Steve cried harder than even he’d expected, and he cried heedless of the fact that Natasha was standing at the door watching him.

“I’m sorry,” he got out. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to--”

Natasha seemingly couldn’t take it anymore. She moved forward and sat down beside him, reaching out somewhat awkwardly to rest her hand on his back and rub soothingly up and down his spine. “It’s okay,” she told him. “Take it easy.”

When it was over and Steve was relatively sure he couldn’t possibly cry any more than he had, he wiped at his eyes and carefully set the puppy down on his lap, where she quickly fell asleep as he petted her. Ashamed, he turned his gaze fleetingly to Natasha and sniffled. “Any chance you can forget you ever saw that?” He huffed quietly.

“I don’t think so,” she answered. “But I’m not judging you for it, if that helps.”

“It does, yeah. A little.” Sheepish and weary, he offered her a very small smile and tried to ignore the blush that came to his cheeks. Steve wasn’t  _ unaware _ of how beautiful Natasha was, after all. He’d just… How could he be with someone when he couldn’t even take care of himself right now?

Then again, Natasha didn’t even seem really bothered by the fact that he’d just had a breakdown in the middle of a pet store. “You know, I might be persuaded to forget about it,” she said after a moment. “If… maybe you let me buy you a cup of coffee.”

Surprised and then some, Steve’s head kind of whipped around and he stared openly. “What?”

Natasha smiled. “What, you don’t drink coffee?”

Steve felt his mouth go dry. Honestly, he couldn’t even conceptualize Natasha asking him out after what she’d seen, but there she was doing exactly that. “No, I do,” he answered. “Uh.. Yeah. Yeah, I’d like that.” He paused. “Are you sure?”

Huffing out a short laugh, Natasha leaned over and kissed his cheek. “Absolutely.”


	3. Blind Date

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: I walked into this restaurant and you thought I was your blind date and I just kind of went with it because I don't want to eat alone.

The one thing Natasha kept reminding herself of was that it took a confident person to eat alone. She’d been single for so long now that she’d had to make some adjustments to her life and one of those adjustments was to learn how to eat by herself in a restaurant. It was just that people looked at you differently sometimes. There were older woman who would whisper about how pathetic and sad it was that she was alone and there was always the chance that some stupid man would walk by and take it upon himself to end the agony of being alone as if his conversation was enough to turn her whole life around.

And sometimes, even though she wasn’t seeing anyone, it was nice to dress up and treat herself to a good meal and an even better drink. On the night in question, she’d chosen to wear a slinky black dress with a patent leather belt around her waist and shiny black pumps to match. She’d even done her hair and put it up in a messy bun with little tendrils falling down on either side of her face and slapped on a little eyeliner and some red lipstick to pull it all together. She looked damn good, if she did say so herself. It was almost a pity to waste this outfit on an evening alone.

The restaurant she’d chosen was a small, intimate place with low lighting and the loveliest ambiance she could think of. She had every intention of getting a glass of wine (or maybe a bottle) and enjoying herself without fear of judgement. Not that she _wanted_ to eat alone, but a girl has to do what a girl has to do. And so, she walked in with her head held high and moved to the bar for the time being. She ordered her glass of red wine to start and crossed her legs so she could look around and see what she could see.

What she hadn’t expected was someone rushing up to her and apologizing for being so late. She definitely hadn’t expected that someone to be a handsome man all done up in a nice suit brandishing a little bouquet of daisies that he pressed into her hand before she could protest. “I’m so sorry, my bike wouldn’t start and I wasn’t sure how to get here by train, so I had to get a cab and that took forever with the traffic--”

Natasha blinked. Blind date. It had to be a blind date and he just assumed that the woman around his age at the bar alone was actually waiting for someone. And God only knows what possessed Natasha to say what she said, but the minute she opened her mouth the damage was done. “That’s okay,” she said as she accepted the daisies. “Better late than never.”

He was _handsome_ , alright? And whoever he was meeting obviously didn’t know what she was missing out on just yet, so why not? It was still technically a blind date. Sort of. Anyway, Natasha allowed him to take her hand and lead her up to the hostess, who led them to a little table right away. She watched in awe as her surprise date pulled her chair out for her like some kind of 18th century gentleman (the last date she’d been on had involved sticky floors and fast food, she wasn’t going to take something like this for granted) and sat down while he quickly took his own seat.

“Oh, sorry. I’m Steve, by the way. It’s really nice to meet you, um…?”

“Natasha,” she filled in, draping her shawl over the back of her chair. “The pleasure’s mine.”

“You must be starving since I’ve kept you waiting so long,” he said sheepishly. “Let’s order first, yeah? And then I want to know all about you.”

Well, she couldn’t disagree with that; she _was_ starving. “Are you sure you can handle hearing all about me?” She teased. “I might have some scary hidden past you don’t know about.”

He laughed. “I’m pretty sure Sam would have said something about a scary hidden past,” he countered. “But even if he doesn’t know, I’m ready for it.”

Steve had a great laugh. Like sunshine was all bottled up inside him. How come Natasha couldn’t meet guys like him on the regular? Were they such a rare breed? “Lucky for you, I’m not _too_ weird,” she murmured as she looked over the menu.

The waiter offered to refill her wine and she accepted just before Steve ordered a whiskey for himself. Good drink. Natasha absolutely judged people based on their drinks. Then they ordered their food; salmon and rice for Natasha, steak and potatoes for Steve. He also ordered an appetizer in the form of stuffed mushrooms and once the waiter left, promised her dessert as well. Already, this was shaping up to be a pretty good date.

“So,” he said. “I meant it. Tell me about you.”

Oh. Right. “Well, I moved here from Russia when I was sixteen,” she began. “I moved in with a friend of the family, actually, and he took care of me until I was nineteen. I… studied at Julliard to be a dancer, but I tore a tendon in my knee and can’t dance full time anymore, so I teach ballet instead.”

Steve raised his eyebrows. “Oh, wow. That’s really impressive, though. I mean, it takes a lot of talent to get into a school like that.” He paused. “Which.. I’m sure you already know. But it’s really impressive anyway. I’m sorry to hear about your knee.”

Natasha shrugged a little. “It was hard at first, but I really do enjoy teaching. It gives me a chance to watch other people develop their skill and find their passion for the art, you know?”

“Oh, I know,” he echoed. “I volunteer at a youth center and teach arts and crafts. Drawing got me through some incredibly hard times, so… I like the idea that I can bring art into these kids’ lives. It might help them out too.”

Well, look at that. He was hot, he was polite, he wasn’t skimping on the meal, _and_ they had things in common. Fate had a funny way of paying Natasha back for a fuck ton of shitty dates in the past. “Well, aren’t you the full package,” she teased lightly.

Steve gave her a lopsided smile that only managed to endear him to her a little bit more. His gaze also briefly dropped to her cleavage and for some reason, he didn’t even look like a pig. He just looked like he was appreciating what she put out there. If she had anything to say about it, she’d be going home with him that night-- although she supposed she should tell him that she wasn’t actually his blind date at some point or another. “So, what else?” He asked quickly. “What about your family? Any brothers or sisters?”

“No, just me. I’m an only child,” she said. “And I don’t have any family here. My parents died shortly after I left and that guardian went with them when I was nineteen. What about you?”

Steve nodded solemnly, probably wondering if he ought to offer condolences for something that happened quite a few years ago, obviously. Natasha wasn’t exactly nineteen anymore. “I’m an only child too,” he shared. “My ma died when I was seventeen and my pops didn’t make it past my sixth birthday. He was kind of a bastard, though. Good riddance.”

Natasha raised her eyebrows and opened her mouth to respond when their appetizer came. “Ooh, this looks good,” she praised, taking the first one when he gestured for her to do so. One bite and she groaned a little bit, tipping her head back to really enjoy it. “Delicious. Wow.”

It was when she picked her head back up that she noticed an irritated looking blonde woman near the bar clearly looking for someone. Uh oh. Natasha snuck little glances over Steve’s shoulder until the woman, clearly pissed off that she’d been supposedly stood up, stormed off and out of the restaurant. Well, Natasha felt a little bad, but… that was what she got for being late? Yeah, she was going to go with that.  

Together, they went through their whole appetizer over little tidbits about themselves; stories about pets and food and music turned to anecdotes about bad dates instead. “I had this one girl who tried to clean my aura,” Steve shared, laughing all the while. “She kept like.. Scooping out bits around my head and everything. It was surreal.”

Natasha laughed out loud and shook her head. “That doesn’t beat the guy who kept asking me about my feet,” she pointed out. “I mean, he wanted to know everything; how often I got a pedicure, whether I’d ever let a boyfriend suck on my toes…” She cringed outwardly and took another sip of her wine. “Seriously, not even the worst date I’ve been on.”

“Wow, that’s-- intense,” he laughed. “I mean, I have so much respect for women that way, you know? You guys have to deal with the weirdest people…”

“That’s right, we do. We have to deal with men.” Their main dishes came then and both Steve and Natasha dug right into their respective meals with gusto. “God, this is so good. I’m so glad we came here. We’re definitely getting dessert.”

Steve nodded his agreement, even spearing a bite of his steak and idly holding it up for her. “You’ve gotta try this. It’s melt in your mouth amazing and I feel like you’d appreciate it.”

And he shared his food? Fuck yes, Natasha had struck gold. She leaned forward and wrapped her lips around the bite on his fork, humming to himself as she leaned back to really taste it. “Wow,” she mumbled. “Wow, that’s good. Here, here. Try the salmon.” She scooped up a little salmon and rice, and she held it out for Steve. He tried it and praised it just like she had, and that just made Natasha very sure that she’d made the right choice in going along with this.

They talked about careers and aspirations over their dinner and decided to split a chocolate lava cake for dessert. Natasha excused herself to go to the bathroom and headed off to just kind of touch up her makeup here and there because she was going to tell him what really happened and hope he still wanted to come back to her place for a drink, and she left him with a warning to not start that cake without her.

But when she came back, Steve wasn’t smiling. Natasha thought the smile would come back when she sat down, but no such luck. “Is something wrong?” She asked as her brow creased in worry. 

“I don’t know,” he said slowly. “Do you--”

The waiter set down their dessert and no one moved to touch it; a sure sign that something was wrong. Natasha felt like she was being examined, but that was explained the very second the waiter left them. “Do you normally hijack other people’s blind dates or am I some kind of special exception?”

Shit. Natasha made a face and sighed. “How did you figure it out?”

“My friend called me asking why I blew off the woman he set me up with,” he explained. “Apparently she got here late and I was nowhere to be found.” Steve didn’t look _pissed_ , per se, but he didn’t really look pleased either. “You know, I don’t really like being lied to.”

“Right.” Natasha gave him a guilty smile. “I was going to tell you, I promise. I would have told you over dessert.”

Steve gave her a disbelieving look and crossed his arms over his chest. “Really.”

Natasha pressed her lips together into a little smile. “Really,” she insisted. “I wouldn’t have let you take me home thinking I was some other girl.”

The surprise was very clear on Steve’s face and he blinked twice before actually answering her. “Before we talk about anyone taking anyone home, I’ve gotta know why you did it. I mean, you could have told me you weren’t the right girl right off the bat. Was it funny to you or something? Did you want the free meal?”

“Actually,” Natasha answered, leaning forward a little bit. “I went along with it because I didn’t want to eat alone and you were just about the cutest thing I’d ever seen, all flustered and waving daisies around.”

Steve swallowed. She could see his Adam’s apple bobbing along before he sat up and grabbed a spoon. “The cutest thing you’ve ever seen, huh?” He teased, taking a bite of their dessert.

Natasha had to smile in return, taking her own spoon and stealing a bite of the rich, chocolatey cake before she could bare to stop herself. “Cutest thing ever,” she repeated. “But you’re not cute now.”

“No? What am I now?”

Obviously checking him out, Natasha smirked and took another little bite of their cake, making sure to lick her lips of the chocolate left behind. “You’re going to take me home.”

Steve raised his eyebrows. “You’re awfully confident of that.”

Natasha shrugged. “What can I say? I’m a confident person.”

Nodding along, Steve signaled for the check and polished off the last of his whiskey. “I can see that,” he answered. “And I like it.”

“I figured you might,” she murmured. “Where did you say you lived again?”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next morning, while Natasha wandered over to a window overlooking some neighborhood in Brooklyn, she once again congratulated herself on her excellent choice of opportunity to seize. After all, if she’d told the truth, she might not be wearing Steve’s button down right now, in his kitchen, holding his mug…

She might not have ridden him to heaven and back last night.

She definitely wouldn’t have the pleasure of waking up to a shirtless Steve making pancakes in the kitchen and shaking his hips like he was being paid to do it. As she sat herself down at the table and crossed her legs while he served her a big stack of pancakes, Natasha wondered exactly how lucky one person could get in a single night. When he leaned down to give her a kiss that tasted like coffee and butter and syrup, she knew that if it was up to her, she’d never have to worry about ‘getting lucky’ out there again.


	4. Carry-On Baggage

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: Traveling with a sex toy.

So, who’s idea was it to make sex toys available for purchase at the airport?

Whoever it was, Steve wanted to personally thank them for the convenience because getting through security with a sex toy was one thing, but buying it afterwards? That was just what he wanted. It took a lot of bravery to get himself into a sex shop in the city, but in an airport where no one would know him or remember him? It was the perfect opportunity. Steve took his time looking through all the options before selecting a nice, thick, realistic looking dildo and a thinner vibrator that was designed for prostate stimulation.

Without much room left in his bags, he’d had no choice but to stuff the vibrator into his messenger bag and cram the dildo into the outside pocket of his carry-on. By the time his section was called, the adrenaline that came with visiting that little shop had faded and Steve was just another tired passenger boarding the plane. He filed in behind a bunch of other people and eventually found his seat-- the window seat beside this objectively gorgeous redhead. Thanking several gods for this opportunity to chat with someone he might actually wind up asking out, Steve leaned over to set his messenger bag down in his seat and hoisted his carry on up towards the overhead compartment when--

“Um. Is this yours?”

Steve looked down and paled immediately because in the perfectly manicured hand of his seat partner for the next six hours was the dildo he’d purchased earlier. It looked practically frightening in comparison to the small size of her hands and Steve could hear snickers around him as he flubbed an apology, grabbed for the thing, and stuffed it back into his bag in the overhead compartment. With his cheeks burning, he slid into his seat and plopped down, cramming his messenger bag under the seat in front of him before locking his seatbelt around his waist and determinedly staring out the window at the workers currently storing everyone’s luggage. Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck, he was going to die of embarrassment.

By the time they took off, he’d managed to turn back to a normal color, but Steve still wasn’t going to look over at the girl beside him for fear he might blush again. God. He’d just had to go and buy a dildo like that! Not even a nice oddly colored one or something- no, he’d picked out a big, stupid, realistic dildo with a head and veins and everything!

The only time he looked in that direction was when the stewardess passed by maybe twenty minutes into the flight to get everyone a drink. He asked for water and she passed it over to him, at which point he and the girl beside him locked gazes for a moment and she smiled knowingly.

Steve wanted to die.

“So, can you really take that whole thing?”

Dear God. Steve’s head whipped around and he met a pair of clear, green eyes that made him want to crawl into himself and hide. “‘Scuze me?”

She let out a soft laugh that just about lit up the entire interior of the plane. “I wanted to know if you can really take that dildo that fell out,” she repeated patiently.

The words sounded even worse the second time, if that were at all possible, and Steve rubbed at the back of his neck as his cheeks heated up yet again. “Uh. Yeah, I mean… Why would I…? That is…” Sigh. Steve took a deep breath. “Yes,” he answered in a quiet voice. “Yeah, I can.”

Silence. Steve wanted to die right there just so he didn't have to deal with the fact that the pretty stranger beside him was smiling to herself and probably laughing at him. God, why did he have to go and buy that stupid thing, huh? Why? He should have just left it alone and moved on with the little one he had safely tucked away.

“Pretty impressive,” she mused. “My biggest one isn't quite that big, but I guess you’ve probably got more experience taking it up the ass…”

Steve gaped at her. What. What did she just say? “Uh…”

“Then again, maybe you’re just a really bold virgin?”

“No!” Fuck. Steve groaned and rubbed both hands over his face. “I mean, I’m not-- I have some--”

The stranger smirked and tipped her head to the side, idly letting her head tip to the side while he tried to figure out exactly what he was going to say here. “That is, I have a normal amount of experience in that particular area, but not so much experience that I’d call myself incredibly experienced.”

There. That was clear enough. Of course, the stranger’s musical laughter managed to derail any confidence Steve might have built up. “I guess we’re in the same boat there,” she said easily. “I’m Natasha, by the way. Natasha Romanoff.”

Steve had to smile. She was just something else, wasn’t she? Definitely not what he might have expected. “Steve Rogers,” he answered. “It’s real nice to meet you.”

“You too, handsome. You know, it’s been a long time since I’ve met such a shy man. But I could just eat you up.” She smiled and kind of wrinkled her nose a little bit while Steve blushed a little further. “Who would have known that someone so sweet would be buying sex toys in an airport?”

“In my defense,” Steve countered immediately. “I only bought them because no one here would recognize me if they saw me, you know? Like I’m never going to see those people again, so. Why not?”

Natasha paused and gave him a knowing look. “Them?”

Steve blinked for a second before he realized that in saying ‘them’, he’d admitted to buying more than one. “Shit,” he mumbled. “I swear to God, I don’t go from airport to airport buying sex toys.”

“I mean, the evidence is kind of stacking up against you,” she teased.

They both laughed over that and when they got dirty looks from the people sitting adjacent to them, which only made them laugh a little harder. For the next hour, they managed to talk about themselves here and there; she was a dancer originally from Russia and he was a Brooklyn boy who grew up to be a pretty damn good illustrator for children’s books. Despite vastly different interests and wildly different upbringings, they got along in a real easy way and Steve found himself deciding that the best thing that could have happened was for his sex toy to fall into her lap instead of someone else’s instead.

Maybe he was just being romantic, but the whole thing felt like the perfect first conversation. Steve laughed more than he could have possibly expected in such a short time with a complete stranger after what some might consider the most embarrassing situation one person could deal with… and he already wanted to know if there was a chance he’d be able to see her again. But that could wait because after two hours of talking over little plastic cups of water and complimentary meals that weren’t that bad, they were both kind of falling asleep.

The seats weren’t comfortable, though. Natasha squirmed and moved and shifted so many times that Steve had to chuckle to himself and nudge her in an attempt to make her stop. In retaliation, Natasha stuck her tongue out at him and slipped her arm right through his before planting her head on his bicep and snuggling in to rest. “Much better,” she mumbled. “Sleep tight.”

Steve pretended to be all put out for a second or two, but ultimately smiled to himself and let his head fall back so he could get some rest too. They slept on and off for a couple of hours, but woke up eventually and agreed to keep each other awake since they’d be landing at night. They didn’t want to wind up being awake the whole night due to too much sleep on the plane. With about an hour left, they were served another drink and a little package of complimentary cookies to snack on while they talked about how tired they were and who was waiting for them.

“Don’t tell me you’ve got some big, protective boyfriend who’s gonna take one look at me and put my lights out,” he laughed. Steve was just testing, really. He could take care of himself, but he wanted to know if she had a boyfriend. She hadn’t mentioned one so far.

Natasha tucked her hair behind her ear and smiled. “No big, protective boyfriend for me,” she answered. “I’m all on my own tonight. I’m gonna grab a cab home. What about you?”

No boyfriend. Steve mentally congratulated himself in an entirely premature way considering he hadn’t actually worked up to asking her out just yet. “Nah, I’ve just got my best friend picking me up, whether he wants to or not.”

“Is that the same one you mentioned earlier? The one you grew up with?”

“Nah, this is a different one,” he said quickly, shaking his head. “The one I grew up with doesn’t leave the house all that much these days. He’s… still in recovery. Uh. PTSD. That sort of thing.”

Natasha nodded in understanding and immediately wanted to know more. That led to Steve giving her a brief recounting of their time in the army and all the shit that came with it and hey, it was never going to be easy to talk about that time, but… she seemed to just accept it and move on.

Steve found it refreshing.

By the time the plane finally landed, however, he still hadn’t managed to actually ask Natasha out. He wanted to. Steve had it all planned out in his mind. He’d ask her if she wanted to grab breakfast in the morning, or he’d ask her for her number and find out if he could maybe call her sometime. He’d ask her to dinner Saturday night or ask her to the movies in a couple of days---

Or he’d let the plane fucking land and get up with his bag so he could follow her off the plane without saying a goddamn word about it. There were no words to describe his level of stupid.

They even headed through customs together, taking their little pictures and explaining to the nice officers that they were just coming home. And they headed to the baggage claim together too, standing beside one another as they waited for their respective suitcases, both of which Steve dragged off the belt with ease. By the time they got to the arrivals gate, it was just fucking sad.

It was sad because Steve couldn’t remember the last time he’d been so attracted to someone and sad because he was better than this and sad because she was right fucking there and she obviously thought he was interesting enough to talk to for several hours. What the fuck was wrong with him?

“So, I guess this is it,” she announced as they headed out to the crowd of people awaiting their loved ones. “Are you on Twitter? Instagram? Somewhere I can follow you?”

“Ah, no,” he answered, already rubbing at the back of his neck with his free hand. “No, I don’t have any of that. I’ve got email, but I never… check it.”

Natasha smiled indulgently. “Alright, so how about a phone number? We can text.”

So, she was asking for his number, but not with any promise of a date. Steve took that to mean that a date was never going to happen because he was probably going to be a coward forever and she’d eventually find someone else… He felt like he’d been down this road before.

“Sure,” he said anyway, rattling off his number and tugging his phone out while she called him so he could save hers as well.

Just then, they were joined by Steve’s friend and had no choice but to turn their attention to him. “Sam! Hey, man. Thanks for coming to get me.”

Sam patted Steve on the shoulder, but ultimately turned his attention to Natasha. “Yeah, sure, man. Who’s this?”

Steve chuckled, but it was fucking strained given the situation. “Sam, this is Natasha, a.k.a. My sanity for the last six hours. Natasha, this is Sam.”

“Oh, the pleasure’s all mine,” Sam interrupted, taking Natasha’s hand and giving her the kind of smooth smile Steve wished he could master. “I hope Steve’s been entertaining enough for you.”

Natasha smiled. “He’s been more than fine,” she laughed. “A real savior.”

Sam glanced up at Steve and the latter’s eyes kind of widened a little because no. No, he didn’t want Sam speaking up for--

“Yeah? Did the real savior even ask for your number?”

Shit. “Sam, come on--”

Natasha laughed out loud and laid a hand on Steve’s arm. “He’s already got a very impressive, very silicone date for tonight,” she teased. “I don’t think he’d know what to do with a girl, to be honest.”

Ouch. “Damn, she’s definitely got your number,” Sam laughed. “Does he scream ‘virgin’ or what?”

“Not as much as he screams ‘bottom’,” she countered. “Why would he want my number?”

Steve ducked his head a little bit and blushed, definitely feeling kind of dejected that she wouldn't even consider going out with him because he liked bottoming a little bit. That didn't make him persona non grata, okay? Even though he'd previously encountered another woman who wasn't comfortable with the whole bisexual thing.

“Because you're a knockout and he's been single for way too long,” Sam explained. “Come on, you're telling me you don't wanna take that home?”

Natasha laughed and Steve felt like he might expire right there. “Well, sure, but last I checked I definitely don't fit the definition of a man, at least not in the traditional sense.”

Wait, what did that have to do with anything? Steve picked his head up and frowned at the same time as Sam smiled nice and wide.

“Oh my God,” they said together.

Steve gaped in utter humiliation because he'd been flirting for the better part of six fucking hours and she--

“You think he's gay?” Sam asked, bending forward as he started to laugh. “Oh my God. Steve, we have to work on the flirting! Fuck, that's the funniest thing I've ever heard.”

Natasha raised her eyebrows. “Oh.” She turned her eyes up to steve. “That was flirting?”

Steve huffed and crossed his arms over his chest. “You don't have to rub it in, I know I'm not a good flirt,” he mumbled.

“But...but… the sex toys. And you're so...oh, wow.”

Natasha looked like she needed to sit down, but she rallied even as Sam continued to kind of snicker to himself. “Then I definitely expect a call,” she told him. The apples of her cheeks were pink; finally, Steve wasn't the only one blushing.

“Yeah? Then I'll definitely call you,” he promised.

Glancing at Sam for a moment, Natasha leaned in close and whispered right into Steve's ear before pulling back with a mischievous grin, winking at him, saying a quick goodbye to Sam, and strutting off towards the exit.

“What’d she say?”

Steve tried to temper his goofy smile, but he couldn't quite manage it. “She said she might just have to break her first date rule and find out how much of a bottom I really am.”


	5. She Loves You, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: You’re famous and just got asked if you were ever in love this should be good-- WAIT WHAT.

“This is a stupid idea.”

Tony scoffed from where he was sprawled out on the sofa with his feet in Bruce’s lap. “This is the best idea Pepper’s ever had,” he countered. “Look at him. He looks like the poster boy for Americana.” He gestured to the television where Steve was all dressed and pressed and neatly sitting on a couch while he waited for his turn to be interviewed. Beside him sat a pop star and an aging actor who were both decidedly more animated than the poor soldier. “Since I’m too much of a ‘loose cannon’, apparently, Steve’s the next best choice for this kind of shit. There’s no way he’s gonna fuck up.”

Natasha pressed her lips together. “He looks terrified,” she pointed out. “Look at his shoulders.”

“Maybe he’s just a little tense,” Tony shrugged. “He’ll get over it.” He paused for a second and shifted to slip his toes right under Bruce’s thigh where they’d be warm. “Or he’ll mess up, say something outrageous, and incur Pepper’s wrath. Either way, not my problem.”

“You’re an amazing friend.”

“Aren’t I?”

Honestly, Natasha was more worried about how much Steve would beat himself up about it. Giving a speech in the heat of a battle or when he was all bent out of shape about something was one thing; being interviewed on a semi-personal level on live television was something else entirely. When it was finally his turn, she gave the television her full attention and crossed her fingers in the hopes that the woman interviewing him wouldn’t go too far. Steve was a goddamn national symbol at this point, wasn’t he? They had to show some respect.

“Captain America!” The woman began. Natasha cringed. “Do people just call you that on the street?”

The actor huffed out a laugh. “Or in bed?”

Cue laughter. Steve’s cheeks went a little pink. “I usually prefer Steve,” he answered. Thankfully, he was still smiling and clearly amused by their questions. “People seem to think Cap and I are one person, but the qualities people associate with him are so varied… It would be impossible to say that he’s a person at all. He’s more of an idea. An identity without being independently sentient.”

The host looked a little jarred by the way Steve was speaking, almost like he was a person with thoughts and intelligence and feeling! Shocking! Natasha snorted as she voiced how impressed she was and Steve just kind of chuckled at her.

Thankfully, the interview kind of went on to talk about the team and what it was like living with so many distinct personalities involved. Steve told a funny story about how at odds he and Tony were sometimes and got a big laugh from the audience and those on stage with him as well. Of course, that was all while Tony was mumbling about big, stupid, patriotic clowns in tights.

But hey, maybe Tony was right. Natasha shuddered at the thought and moved past it, but the thing was that Steve really seemed to be doing great up there. He was warm and confident, modest and impossibly handsome and so very sweet… Ah, there was no reason to go there. No reason to muck up the day or their relationship with all that nonsense.

Then again, how could anyone be expected to remain calm when Steve was eventually flubbing over excuses as to why he wasn’t familiar with the pop star’s music or most of the actor’s movies? There was a commercial break wherein Tony said what she’d expected him to say from the beginning.

“Told you. They love him. Look how fucking personable the guy is when he’s under stage lights and in front of the cameras. He hasn’t even dropped an f-bomb yet.”

“Yet,” Natasha said pointedly. “He hasn’t gotten annoyed yet.”

“This isn’t exactly hard-hitting journalism, Nat,” Tony reminded her. “It’s just a talk show. He’s not going to get annoyed.”

Natasha huffed. “It’s Steve. He could probably get annoyed about anything if he tried hard enough.”

When the show came back on, the host was holding a pile of cards with the show’s name plastered on the back and Steve looked truly nervous. “Welcome back, everyone! We don’t have much time left, but we’d like to use our last few minutes to ask Steve a few questions submitted by his fans. Are you ready, Captain?”

Steve was not ready, but he nodded anyway.

“This one is from ‘CapsLove356’. She says, ‘Hi, Steve! I was just wondering if there’s a food you only got to try after you woke up that you could call your favorite. Love you!’”

Steve smiled like he was relieved that these would be the kinds of questions he got. “Ah, I’m pretty excited about pizza,” he said, rubbing at the back of his neck. “Any kind of pizza, really. Regular, Sicilian, toppings, no toppings…”

“This next one is from ‘PrincessofAsgard2’ and she wants to know if you have a special exercise regimen that you follow to maintain those ‘rock hard abs’.”

The audience screamed in appreciation and Steve ducked his head, covering his face for a few moments until it died down. “I, uh… I go running every morning,” he explained. “And I’m in the gym every day, either going at the punching bags or sparring with my teammates.”

“Oh, that’s just inviting a follow up,” the host laughed. “Who do you spar with?”

Steve raised his eyebrows. “Well, Thor, usually, but I’ve been thrown around by the Black Widow a few times.”

(Tony huffed. “Sure. Never mentions that I throw him around sometimes.”   


Natasha turned to look at the other man. “I’m pretty sure I saw you bounce off his chest once.”)

“Now that’s something I think we all would like to see,” the host said as she was surrounded by screams of agreement. “Alright, next we have StarSpangledHottie90… who wants to know if there’s anyone special in your life.” She paused and looked up. “Ooh, that’s a good one. Tell us, is Captain America single?”

(Uh oh. Natasha raised her eyebrows in concern as the audience flipped its shit and the two other guests clapped along with them. “He’s going to walk out,” she muttered

“He’s fine,” Tony insisted. “Have a little faith.”)

Steve did not walk out. He did tense, though, and shook his head a little. “He’s single alright,” he answered. “Very single.”

“Hear that, ladies?” The host announced. “He’s single!”

“Aw, wait a minute.” The actor spoke up and it was pretty unprecedented because this was an open and shut case. Either he was single or he wasn’t, period. “I’m getting the feeling that there’s something not being said here. Maybe he’s single, but this one looks like he’s in love!”

Steve’s head shot up and he glanced from the actor to the host and back down to his lap. He rubbed both hands over his thighs and laughed nervously as the audience continued to cheer and the host urged him to answer. “Well, Captain? Have you ever been in love? Are you in love now?”

For a second there, Natasha’s heart started to race and she couldn’t quite figure out why. Steve visibly swallowed the inevitably lump in his throat and looked up while people continued to shout around him. “I, uh… I have been in love,” he said slowly. “And I think I’m falling in love again.”

The screams were thunderous. They were so loud that Thor and Clint came wandering in from the kitchen to see what all the fuss was about. “Well, now you have to tell us!” The host laughed. “Who’s the special lady?”

“Oh, I don’t think I should say,” he begged off. “She wouldn’t like it.”

“So you haven’t told her? Or are you keeping your relationship quiet?”

Steve sighed. “I haven’t told her.”

(“Woah, Steve’s in love? Who’s been fucking Cap in secret, huh? Come on, fess up.”

Natasha rolled her eyes. “Shut up, he probably hasn’t even told whoever it is,” she pointed out. “It’s Steve. You think if he was in a relationship he’d be able to keep quiet about it?”

Tony nodded. “Good point.”)

“You know what they say, son,” the actor piped up. “Always better out than in. Don’t you want to know if she feels the same or not?”

“Well… yeah, of course. But I’m pretty sure she’s not—“

“Interested? Only one way to find out for sure. Come on, son. Tell us.”

The chant from the crowd started up immediately- “Tell us! Tell us! Tell us!”

Steve looked like he was getting more and more bothered by the second. He clenched his hands into fists and closed his eyes tight and—“Alright!” He took a deep breath. “Alright.”

For a few seconds, Steve kind of rubbed at his jaw and started to speak, but it looked like he couldn’t really maintain eye contact with anyone. “So, let me just say that she’s… amazing, okay? She’s beautiful and funny and really, really silly when she gets the chance to be.” 

The audience was seriously losing it. Steve had them wrapped around his little finger. “And she’s probably gonna be real pissed at me for admitting this, so. Here’s to hoping I’m around to see you guys again sometime.” Another deep breath. “I, uh… I think I’m falling in love with Natasha. The Black Widow. Guess that makes me the prey.”

It was a good thing that the screams were so loud on the television because they managed to almost drown out the utter and complete silence that had taken over the Avengers’ living room. In seconds, Natasha had four pairs of eyes on her and she narrowed her own because how dare he come out with that shit in living color on national fucking television?!

“Oh my God,” Tony whispered. Bruce quickly put a hand over his mouth before he said anything else.

Clint let out a low growl like he was going to try and kill Steve when he came back and Thor just chuckled as he slapped the archer on the back. But Natasha? Natasha was going to put her thighs around his head the second she laid eyes on him. 

“You heard it here, folks!” The host continued. “And that’s all the time we have left for today. We’ll see you tomorrow on---”

Everything sort of faded into the background and Natasha stood up, crossing her arms over her chest as she padded back and forth, back and forth. “Okay, am I the only one who wants to know what’s happening here?” Tony asked aloud. “Come on, someone else has to be a little curious.”

Thor stepped forward. “I am, actually. Natasha, do you-- return his feelings?” 

Natasha pushed both hands through her hair, but she didn’t answer. 

Bruce raised his eyebrows. “Natasha? Are you alright?”

“I don’t know,” she answered, even raising her voice a little bit. “He just said he loves me on national television! I’m not sure how you fight that.”

“Alright, the show’s over!” Pepper’s heels click-clicked their way across the floor and she shut the TV off for the night, or at least for the time being. “Everyone out.” 

Tony and Bruce pulled themselves up from the couch. “But--”

“Do not start. Out. Everyone out except Natasha.” 

Tony pouted. “You ruin all my fun.”

Pepper gave him a look and Bruce hastily pulled him along after Thor and Clint. When the room was empty save the two redheads, it felt just a little more relaxed, but that might have been because Tony wasn’t still  _ staring _ and waiting for Natasha’s verdict.

“Well, that went less smoothly than I expected,” Pepper mused. “Did you have any idea--?”

“No.” 

Pepper huffed a little. “Really? You had  _ no idea _ that Steve was falling in  _ love _ \--?”

“ _ No _ .”

“Well,” she said primly. “Regardless, you have to figure out what to do now.” 

Natasha hummed and nodded, worriedly chewing on her thumbnail. What was she supposed to do now? Steve was falling in love with her and he’d just told the whole goddamn world about it. And what was she supposed to do? Just ignore it? Pretend he’d never said it? She would be hounded by the press for an answer, she was sure of it.  

“Natasha? Nat? Earth to Natasha?” Pepper frowned. “Do you like him or not?”

As if it was that easy! “I don't know! How should I know?”

Pepper frowned a little further. “Well, I guess you just know. You kind of get warm when you think about them? And you want to spend as much time together as possible, but it's not just that. It's more that...like their presence makes normal things better. Dinner is good, but dinner with someone you love is so much better.”

Natasha took that to heart for several reasons, the first of which being that she didn't think she'd ever really been in love. It wasn't like that with Clint; even before they'd been just friends, her regard for him was more curiosity or respect, not love. She loved him now, to be sure, but it wasn't the kind of romantic love Steve had oh-so-charmingly alluded to. 

Then again, maybe the fact that she spent so much time with Steve aside from their missions together spoke for itself. Maybe she  _ was _ at least contemplating the idea of letting herself fall in love with the complete jackass who decided to proclaim his own love on national television. “I'm going to kill him,” she said decidedly. “But I'm going to do it in a way he'll enjoy.”

Pepper blinked. “I'm going to take that as a good sign and remind you that if you're going to do this, you need to keep your hands to yourself in public. And no sex tapes. I don't have the strength or the patience to deal with that.” She sighed. “Again.”

She left and Natasha sat heavily on the arm of the sofa while she waited for Steve to show up. She knew him well enough to know that even though he was probably terrified of what she was going to say or do to him, he wasn’t going to run. Idiot didn’t know when to back down from  _ any _ fight, let alone something like this. And when Steve walked in, she was going to know what to say to him because it would be natural. If she loved him, then it would come out. And if she didn’t, then Natasha was confident she’d just have a good way to tell him that without making him feel like shit.

Oh, how foolish she had been.

When Steve walked in and worriedly came to stand in front of her, Natasha was pretty sure that every single word, certainly every English word, just flew right out of her head. Her heart was beating wildly against her ribs and even as she looked up at him, she just didn’t know.

Because if she said she loved him and wound up disappointing him, they might not be able to recover. This relationship, this  _ friendship _ that she’d developed with him was too important to risk. And yet…

“You’ve got a big mouth.”

Perfect. Steve raised his eyebrows for a moment before nodding along in agreement. “Yeah, I’ve been told that one or two or a hundred times,” he answered, giving her a cautious smile. “It’s always my mouth that gets me into trouble. Got a feeling this time is no different.”

Natasha considered him with a totally blank stare. “I think you’re an idiot,” she said bluntly. “And I think you have no idea what you’re getting into here.” Steve opened his mouth and she stopped him by just putting one hand up before continuing on. “You and me? We’re too different, Steve. And when we inevitably break up, you’ll leave. Or I’ll leave. I know me. I don’t want to lose you as a friend just so I can have you as something else for a little while.”

“Alright, wait. Wait.” Steve took a step forward. “Who said we’re ever going to break up?”

Natasha let out a quiet laugh. “Steve, I know you’re an optimist, but come on.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” 

Pressing her lips together, Natasha gave Steve a knowing look. “It means that things will be great at first. We’ll be like best friends who are dating and the papers will love it. We’ll have a lot of very, very good sex. But when it comes down to the emotions, you’ll get tired of me and my issues, I’ll feel like you’re pressuring me even though you’re probably not, we’ll drift apart, we’ll fight, we’ll break up. That’s how it’ll go.” 

Steve blinked, shook his head, and stepped forward to almost close the space between them. With Natasha still sitting, he towered over her a little more than usual and she had to actually look  _ up _ at him. “You don’t know that,” he argued, though he really was remarkably calm. “What if the good sex never ends? I know you’ve got issues and all that, but I do too. I know what I want.”

“I don’t think you do,” she started, but he quite literally silenced her with one finger right over her lips. 

“I’m not a fucking kid.” Steve looked determined. She knew that look as it was applied to the punching bag in the gym or a particularly frustrating video game he was trying out. She was a puzzle for him to solve, but she worried that he wouldn’t be able to let go until he actually solved it and maybe she  _ couldn’t _ be solved. Maybe she couldn’t be ‘fixed’. “Don’t tell me what I want, Natasha. I’ve been falling for you from the beginning.”

“You can’t tell me that I’m the girl you’ve always wanted.”

Steve let out a little huff of laughter and smiled. Natasha kind of wanted to slap it off his face because it felt like he was laughing at her. “Nat, you’re exactly the girl I’ve always wanted. Smart, beautiful, perfectly willing and able to kick my ass.” He shrugged a little and his smile only widened, growing softer still as he reached out to take her hands. “Plus, you’ve got a real nice pair of stems.” 

He winked and Natasha actually laughed out loud because he was such an undeniable dork. “Are you sure?” She asked. She wasn’t going to fight this forever, not if he was so set on giving it a shot. She wanted it too, who did she think she was kidding? “I’m not going to go easy on you just because you’re a virgin.” 

The smile Steve gave her was one that Natasha would forever come to know as a warning. It was the only warning she would forever receive before being thrown over his shoulder or pressed up against a wall or tugged onto the couch or rolled over in bed as Steve proved to her over and over again that virgin or not, he wasn't only eager to please, but incredibly, mercilessly,  _overwhelmingly_ eager to keep practicing .

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! <3


End file.
